knights and castles – Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 3 2.4.19

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents for your support this term. You have gone above and beyond in making our big homework castles, sourcing sticks for bows and arrows and coming along to watch and enjoy our assembly and banquet. Also coming in to see the children with their amazing strategies in our Number Talks lessons. The children have thoroughly enjoyed this term and it was lovely to see so many of you come to allow us to display our learning to a captive audience.

We wish you a fantastic Easter break when the time comes – very well earned for the children too.

Next term will see the pupils choice of learning turned into a topic for them, so watch this space. The ideas are pointing in a very specific direction of oceans, sea creatures, plastics, the future and extinction.

We will leave you with some pictures from this term. Happy Easter when the time comes.

Primary 3 8.3.19

Thank you to everyone who brought in their favourite book today for World Book Day.

We loved seeing all of the different books and in Primary 3, we had recipe books, fact books, story books, picture books, pocket books and poem books! It was so interesting hearing about why these were your favourite, and we enjoyed learning from the Primary 5s what theirs were too.

We began having a look at our class Parent Assembly on knights and castles today and we are beginning to hand out parts. We will have these out by Monday next week. Please keep an eye out for these and help your child to learn their words. We are very excited to share with you what we have been learning. The date for your diaries is Friday the 29th March. Letters about this will follow.

Next week primary 6 are hosting a bake sale to raise money for Comic Relief. This will happen on Thursday 14th. Also, on Friday the 15th, it will be a dress down day, with the theme “Crazy Hair/ Crazy Dress” and they ask a donation of 50p is brought in on this day. We have a number of other things happening in school for this as well and P6 have been working hard to make it an enjoyable day for all whilst raising money for this great cause.

Please could P3 ask for children to bring in a stick from home next week. This will be used for us to make a bow and arrow set and complete some science investigations with them. Any stick from outside will do, as long as it is strong.

Letters will be handed out soon for our up coming trip as well, so please keep an eye out for these in bags. We are heading to Edinburgh Castle on the 20th of March as a nice finish to our castles topic.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Smith, Mrs Smith and Ms Matheson

Primary 3 1.2.19

Our Knights and Castles Topic has been in full swing this week! We worked in our home teams on two different challenges. We worked in our groups to create a life size knight in armour along with weapons. We had to think of how to make parts of our knight move as well but we will finish this part of the challenge next week. Here are some of our knights in the process of being made.

We learned a lot more about what the medieval people did when under siege. We learned about attack and defence tactics, alongside some of the weapons they may have used.

As part of our maths, and science/technology, we worked within our home team groups and made a model similar to a trebuchet (a type of catapult). We tested the forces we needed to use to make the catapult hit the target of the castle. Our longest fire we measured to be 70cm!

Please look out for our yellow letters sent home about a shared start and a shared finish. If you are interested in coming along, the Primary 3 dates are as follows:

Shared start: Monday 11th March at 9.05am

Shared finish: Wednesday 20th February 2.50pm

We will be showing you our number talks lessons and how we can calculate sums mentally. We will discuss how our brain works with different strategies in Maths.

Reminders

Please ensure all clothing worn or coming in to school, including PE kit is labelled with names.
Children can dress down and bring 50p donation for Valentine’s Day on February the 14th. Children can dress to impress or wear Valentine colours and accessories.
Just a reminder to look in inboxes as Parents Night appointment e-mails have been sent out.

Thank you again for your continued support,

Miss Smith, Mrs Smith and Ms Matheson

Primary 3 25.1.19

This week we have learned about how to look after ourselves and stay clean and healthy. We did a glitter experiment whereby we put it on our hands and watched as it spread to everything we touched. (We also, at this point, had a brief discussion about the importance of using biodegradable glitter and what this word meant!) We discussed how this happens with germs every day and we can’t see them. This led to a discussion about foods and things we put near our mouths using our hands and we were all able to see why it is so important to wash our hands properly before we eat.

We will continue by looking at clean and dirty water, as well as healthy eating over the next few weeks.

The children did very well with their Burns poems, and although not everyone was confident in reciting theirs in front of the class in P3S, they all managed to it off by heart. Most even brought theirs to life with expression and gestures. Well done to Lauren, Ben, Alfie and Holly who went through to the class vote.

We enjoyed hearing all of the poetry in our whole school Burns celebration on Friday morning. What a talented lot of children we have! We look forward to sharing our recital talents and singing in front of the senior citizens at our Burns afternoon on Monday.

This week we will be creating life size knights with their protective armour and weapons and writing about how it would have felt to be a knight.

Reminders:

Please remember appropriate kit on PE days
We have had a lot of children losing or damaging the new books. Primary 3 have had the most letters sent out for replacements in the whole school. Please encourage your child to look after the books and bring them every day to school ready to practise their reading.
Please label all clothing coming into school, including PE kits.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Smith, Mrs Smith and Ms Matheson

Primary 3 06.03.17

Primary 3 have their Parent Assembly next Monday so we have lots to do in preparation. Children will be learning their lines, singing their Three Brave Knights song and practising small drama pieces. There will be no spelling or maths homework this week. We look forward to showing you all our assembly on Monday.

In maths we are finishing up with money and moving onto time. Please encourage your children to read and tell the time with digital and analogue clocks. We have also been doing lots of work with fractions- finding a fraction of a shape and number.

In writing we are using our imaginations to write a short story about a dragon living in a castle. Children made their dragons out of clay and used them to help write their description of their dragon. This week we are creating a backdrop for our dragons to help us describe where our stories are going to be set.

Futsal will run as normal on Tuesday in the hall so indoor P.E kits are required.

P3R- P.E Wednesday

P3S- P.E Monday

Please continue reading as normal this week- page numbers and chapters will be written in diaries.

Miss Rafferty & Mrs Smith

Primary 3 20.2.17

Primary 3 have been very busy at home completing the Big Homework piece. We are both so pleased with everyone’s efforts, use of resources and imagination when building and constructing their castles. We had castles in all shapes and sizes. We had castles made from cardboard, plastic, play dough, lego and even chocolate! All children were able to present their castles to the class and they are now on display in our classrooms. Well done Primary 3!

In maths we are beginning to investigate fractions. We have been learning about a half and a quarter of a shape but this week we are going to be learning about a half and quarter of a number. We will be using lots of concrete materials to help support the children’s learning.

In writing we are making our very own fact files about knights and castles. The children have been learning note taking skills and have been putting these to the test by taking notes from topic books, websites and videos. Children are then going to use these notes to create a mini fact file with headings, pictures and sentences. We will display them once they are complete.

Futsal this week will be taking place outside. So could all children bring an OUTDOOR P.E kit on Tuesday.

Reading will continue as normal this week and the children will have spelling and maths homework to complete for Friday.

Miss Rafferty and Mrs Smith

Primary 3 31.01.17

Primary 3 have been given a big piece of homework to completed by Thursday 16th February. Children are allowed to use a variety of materials but must clearly show the key features of a castle. (more detail on homework sheet)

This Friday we have been invited to a Sports festival! The children will be taking part in a number of sporting activities and it has been advised that they wear warm clothing (jogging bottoms, jumper and a coat) Children should come to school dressed in their kit as we will be out all morning.

In Maths this week we are introducing the 4x table. Could you please encourage your child to practise thier times tables at home as they will be required to know their 2,3,4,5 and 10 times table to help them solve fractions and solve division questions.

We have recently set up a shop at the back of our class to help the children put their money skills that they have been learning to the test. We have also set up a role play corner based on knights and castles. We have recently purchased a castle tent and dressing up costumes. These were funded by the PSA. Primary 3 would like to say a big thank you!!

P.E is as normal

Spelling and Maths homework is due Friday

Big Homework is due 16th February

Thank you, Miss Rafferty and Mrs Smith

Primary 3 9.1.17

Primary 3 have a very busy term and we are looking forward to starting our new topic- Knights and Castles. Children will be learning about the history of castles, their purpose and who used to live and work in castles. We will also be taking a class trip in March to Edinburgh Castle which we are all very excited about.

Children have been sent home with a Scottish Poem to learn for our Burns Competition. Could you please encourage your child to practise this so they can recite it to the class at the end of the month.

Primary 3 are very lucky to be getting Futsal! We have a Futsal coach coming into school to teach the skills used in Futsal and this will commence on Tuesday 24th January for a number of weeks. Could you please ensure that your child has an indoor P.E kit for this.

In Maths we are continuing with learning our times tables. We will be practising our 2, 5 and 10 but also introducing our 3 and 4 times tables. The more practice at home and school will increase the children’s confidence in their times tables. We are also going to be tackling Money, learning the values of all coins and using our adding and subtracting skills to find totals and give change.

Reading will continue as normal up until the February break. We will be doing guided reading in class and writing down pages to be read at home in their homework diaries.

We are sending home our Termly newsletter today along with spelling and maths homework. The newsletter will explain which days the children will need P.E kits and which specialists they will be receiving this term.

Thanks,

Miss Rafferty and Mrs Smith

Primary 3 W.b. 22.2.16

We hope that you had a restful 2 days off last week.
In maths primary 3 have learnt to divide by 2,5 and 10. This week they will be dividing by 3. The children are learning to link their dividing sums to the times tables they already know. Please continue to practise counting up in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s to support your child in this work.
In topic, primary 3 created symmetrical flags for a make believe castle. This week the children will be given parts for the primary 3 assembly. Please practise any lines given out at home. We are really looking forward to our trip to Edinburgh Castle next Monday. Please remember to hand in the pink form and £4 as soon as possible for this.
Thank you
Miss Christy and Miss Rafferty

Primary 3 w.b. 1st February

Well done primary 3 for your performance of Katie Bairdie last Tuesday. Your singing was very loud and clear and the audience were very impressed. Well done also to Joe and Leila for your final recitation of ‘Snaw’ on the afternoon.
Primary 3 are really enjoying the knights and castles topic. Last week the children learnt about the clothes Kings and Queens used to wear. They created a self portrait as a King or Queen which will hang in our classroom Great Hall when it is finished. Primary 3 also learnt about the weapons knights would use when attacking or defending a castle. We’re glad we don’t live in medieval times!
In Maths, primary 3 are finishing off their work on times tables. So far the children have learnt the 2,3,4,5 and 10 times tables. This week we will finish off this work. Thank you for all the practice you are putting in at home.
This week primary 3 will be continuing their knights and castles topic by writing about an attack on a castle and by completing a challenge in small groups. We look forward to sharing these with you at parents’ consultations next week. If you have any junk we could use for our challenge, please bring it in on Tuesday.
Thanks for your support.
Miss Christy and Miss Rafferty

Primary 3 w.b. 25.1.16

Well done to everyone who learnt their Scots poem last week. We were very impressed by the confident and clear delivery given by all the children which made it difficult to chose 2 winners from each class to go forward to the Burns Assembly on Friday. Well done to Leila, Sophia, Joe and Isla for being selected; you performed well and were great representatives of Primary 3. Joe and Leila were the winners from the competition for primary 3.
Primary 3 have been learning their times tables in Maths. So far the children have learnt and practised the 2,5,10 and 3 times tables and this week will be learning the 4 times table. Thank you for the practice you are putting in at home for this, it makes a lot of difference to the children’s confidence.
In our Knights and Castles topic, primary 3 have already learnt about the parts of a castle and the progression of becoming a knight. This week we will look at medieval weapons and will create a self portrait as a king or queen to hang in our great hall!
On Tuesday, primary 3 will be performing ‘Katie Bairdie’ at the Scots afternoon. All children must be in full school uniform for this.
A reminder that Miss Christy has indoor PE on Monday and Outdoor PE on Tuesday, and Miss Rafferty has outdoor PE on Tuesday and indoor PE on Wednesday.
Thank you for your support
Miss Christy and Miss Rafferty

Primary 3 20.1.16

Primary 3 have been working hard to learn their Scottish Poem. We are looking forward to hearing everyone recite their poem to the class this morning. Good luck boys and girls!

We have been learning about Castles. The children have been learning the different parts of a castle and their purpose. All the children were very excited to hear about the murder holes in the castles……they do not sound pleasant!

We have also been looking inside the castle and investigating the different rooms. The children were then making comparisons with their own homes and rooms. What a difference!

In Maths we have been learning our times tables. We have already tackled the 2x, 5x and 10x!! Today we are going to look at the 3x table. We have some finger tricks to learn to help us remember. Keep practising your times tables at home.

In health we have been creating our very own “eatwell” plates. The children now know what is a healthy and balanced diet is and understand that a balance diet will keep them healthy. Tomorrow we will be creating a healthy meal using the “eatwell” plate.

Homework- Poems, Katie Bairdie, Spelling

Maths will be handed out next week.

Miss Rafferty and Miss Christy